“Feelings can creep up just like that. I thought I was in control.” - Chow Mo-wan (played by Tony Leung Chiu Wai).

Just watched In the Mood for Love (花樣年華）again, this time around being the first in a theatre and in 35mm =).

Aside from some choppy reel transitions and sound dropouts, it was a very enjoyable experience. I could see the grain and could feel and hear a certain visceral aesthetic that I don’t get from digital.

Note: Spoilers below.

One thing I appreciated more in this viewing was how Chow Mo-wan and Chan Su Lizhen (Maggie Cheung), would role-play as each others’ cheating spouses. Also, they would concoct fantastical martial arts tales together in their hideout room, 2046. Tony’s character falls in love with Maggie’s to her surprise, “I didn’t think you would fall in love with me." These situations put into question the notion of reality and the reality of feelings.

The play acting with each other and the hours spent dreaming up WuXia stories, engenders this love. The fiction (role-playing, storytelling) creates a reality (a love) and this reality lives within a fiction (the film itself).